Electro-mechanical synchronizer for clocks



(No Model.)

J. H. GERRY.

BLEGTRO MECHANICAL SYNGHRONIZER FOB. CLOCKS. No. 849,493. Patented Sept. 21, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES II. GERRY, OF BROOKLYN, NEXV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MARSHALL E. HUNTER, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

ELEQTRO-MECHANICAL SYNCHRONIZER FOR CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349393, dated September 21, 1886.

Application filed September 5, 1885. Serial No. 176,238. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Janus H. GERRY, acitizen of the United States, residing in Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Eloctro-lliechanical Synchronizers for Clocks, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the class of apparatus employed for periodically placing the hands of cloeks,whether mechanically or electrically operated, in position to indicate true time and to correct for any deviation there from.

The object of the invention is to provide means whereby an electric current transmitted at the proper moment shall set in operation mechanical devices which move the hands into the proper positions through a force which is in no way dependent upon the strength of the electric current and to immediately remove the setting devices from the path of the hands.

In carrying out the invention I prefer to firmly attach to the cannon-pinion, which is sleeved to the arbor of the minute-hand, a plate having two pins projecting therefrom in directions parallel to the arbor, between which it is designed that awedge-shaped block shall be dropped at the moment the hands are to be set. Should the minute-hand be too slow the wedge-shaped block will, by pressing against one of the pins, advance the hand, and if, on the contrary, it be too fast, the block by pressing against the other pin will push the hand backward the required distance. In other words, considering that the hand is to be placed at XII, the parts are so adjusted that the passage of the wedge-shaped block between the pins will cause the minutehand to stand exactly at that point. The correct.- ing-block is carried upon a lever which is raised by the movement of the clock mechanism above the pins during the period intervening between two operations, and when it is released it passes entirely between the pins and out of their path, thereby permitting the hand to advance in response to the clockmovement. In some instances it is desirable also to correct the second-hand of a clock, and for this purpose there is applied to the lever operating the wedge-shaped correcting-block an angled lever which is thrown forward by the downward movement of the first-named lever, and this angle-lever is provided with a bow engaging at its respective extremities two points carried upon the arbor of the second hand. By this means the second-hand may be moved either forward or backward at the same moment that the minute-hand is corrected.

The invention involves certain features of construction which will be described fully in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the application filed by me in conjune tion with Marshall B. Hunter January 11, 1885, and January 13, 1885, and respectively numbered 188,168 and 188,381, there are described and claimed certain devices in some respects resembling that described herein. I do not, therefore, in the present case claim any thing described and claimed in those applications and not specifically claimed hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation, andFig. 2 is a side view, of such parts of a clock and the correcting devices as are necessary to illustrate the invention.

Referring to the drawings,A represents the dial of a clock, and B the minute-hand. Upon the arbor I) of the hand B there is placed a disk, 0, which is preferably secured thereto by a friction-clutch, 0. The disk 0 carries upon a projection, 0, two pins, (2 and (2 projecting forward in a direction parallel to the arbor b. It is designed that awedge, D,shall be dropped between these pins at the moment it is desired to correct the hand B for any error. The block I) is carried upon a lever, E, pivoted at 0. This lever is shown as carrying a step, c, at its end, which is engaged by a detent, f, carried upon an arm, f. The arm f is attached to the arbor of an armature-lever, f, of an electro-magnet, I 'When the electro-magnet is vitalized and the armaturelever drawn forward, the detent f is drawn out of the path of the step c and the lever E is allowed to fall, which it will do by reason of the force of gravity. Considering that the error of the hand 13 shall be from one to three minutes, or even more, the block D will enter between the pins (1 and d and move the hand either backward or forward, accordingly as the hand is fast or slow. That theblock D may not stand in the path of the pins and prevent the farther advancement of the hand, the

lever is constructed so that the block shall pass entirely between the pins and shall remain for a time upon the opposite side--that is to say, beneath the pins. It is necessary, however, that the lever E be again raised and locked by the detent f. For this purpose a snail, G, is secured to the arbor b,and against its periphery there rests a pin, 9, carried upon an extension, 9, of the lever E. The snail G is so placed with reference to the pin 9 that during a short periodsay, from three to five minutes before the hand is to be setthe widest portion, of the snail will pass beyond the pin g and thereby release'it. The lever, however, will be retained by the detent f. WVhen, however, the electromagnet F is vitalized, the lever will drop and the pin 9 will strike against the narrowest portion, g, of the snail. For the purpose of preventing the lever from being again immediately raised by the movement of the snail, which might place it in thepath of the pin (1 a section-say eighteen degrees-of the snail is of the same radius, so that it turns beneath the pin 9 without raising it. After, however, the pins d and d have passed beyond the path of the block D,then the widening portion of the cam will raise the lever'and ultimately bring it into position to be engaged by the detent f. The faces of the detents e and f are preferably beveled, as shown, so that the upward movement of the former will press the latter forward a suflicient distance to allow the one to pass the other.

For the purpose of causing the correctingblock D to move the hand without causing an unnecessary jar and for the further purpose of stopping any vibration which may be given to the hand by the first movement occasioned, the block D is preferably constructed with its two lateral surfaces, and k curved to correspond to arcs of circles having their centers at the point 6, so that the block will pass between the pins almost, if not quite, in contact with both at the same time, and stop any material vibration.

For the purpose of setting the second-hand there is carried upon the lever E a pin, m,

which is designed to actuate alever, M. The

lever M carries a yoke, n, carrying two projecting points, a and at. These points are designed to engage corresponding projections, 0 and 0 upon a disk, 0, attached to the arbor of the second-hand B. WVhen the lever E the purpose of permitting thelever E to again rise into its position without raising the lever M, the yielding springp upon the lever M has an opening in its side, and after the secondhand has been set and the lever E is again raised by the action of the snail G the pin' presses out the spring 1; slightly and passes through the opening into its original position.

WVhen the lever E is again raised, the pin m passes behind the opening and returns to its normal position, as shown in the drawings, through a narrow slip or opening formed. therein without moving the lever M.

The electro-magnet F may be included in circuit with any number of similar magnets employed for correcting other clocks, and this circuit is provided with any suitable form of circuit-closing device.

The clocks may be set once each hour, twelve hours, twenty-four hours, or at other periods, and it is evident that they may be set at other points than at XII. It should be observed that the operation of setting is not dependent upon the strength of the current transmitted, and that if by chance an accidentalcurrent should traverse the line and the electro-magnet be vitalized no harm can be done, for if the portion of the snail G has not passed beyond the pin 9 the arm E will still be held by the snail, and if it has so passed then the setting will, occur without arresting the operation of the clock, and any error which -may be given to it will be corrected at the next correcting period.

Instead of employing the wedge is and two pins, d and (P, a block having a wedgeshaped opening or slot may be placed upon the disk 0 and a pin carried upon the arm E designed to fall into this slot and pass through a narrow opening or slot at the bottom. The pin, by rubbing against one side or the other of the wedge-shaped opening, would adjust the hand forward or backward, as required. The slot at the bottom of the opening might be prolonged, its sides being curved concentric with the point 0.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination,substantial] y as hereinbefore set forth, with a clock-hand, of two correcting-pins moving with the arbor of the same, a wedge designed to pass between said pins and beyond their path, a lever to which said wedge is rigidly secured, and means for locking said lever away from the path of said pins.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set fortl1,with a clock-hand, of two correcting-pins moving therewith, a wedge designed to pass between said pins for setting the hand, a lever carrying said wedge, a detent for holding said lever in a given position, an electro-magnet for releasing the same, and means moving with said hand for replacing said lever by the action of the clock mechanism after it has been released.

3. The combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, with the hand of a clock and its arbor, of a disk moving therewith, correcting-points carried upon said disk,a correctingwedge designed to pass into engagement with one or the other of the same, means for per mitting said device to remain out of the path of said points for a predetermined period and then returning it to its normal position, and means, susbtantially such as described, for locking and releasing said wedge.

4-. The combination, substantially ashereinbefore set forth, of a eloclchand, two controlling-pins movingtherewith, an electro-magnet, a correcting-wedge designed to pass between said pins, and a detent controlled by said electro-magnet for normally restraining said wedge from acting, means for moving said hand in either direction by the action of said correcting wedge and pins, and a snail for returning said wedge to its normal position after it has been actuated.

5. The combination, substantially as herein before set forth, with a clock-hand and its arbor, of the pins d and (1 the block D, having converging faces and curved sides It and k, substantially as described, the eleetro-magnet and the lever E, and the detentsf and 6, all organized substantially as described.

6. The combination,substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a clock-hand and pins for correcting the position of the same, of a correcting device moving in the arc of a circle for adjusting the position of said handby engaging the pins, said block having its sides curved to the arcs of circles whose centers coincide with the center of the first-named are.

7. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the minute-hand of a clock, the correcting device for the same, and a lever for controlling said correcting device, of the second-hand of a clock, a correcting device applied thereto, and an arm projecting from said lever and engaging the second correcting device, substantially as described.

8. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the correcting device for the minute-hand of aclock, of the second-hand of a clock, a correcting device applied thereto consisting of a lever engaging points moving wit-h said second-hand, a pin moved by the first-named correcting device for actuating said lever, and a latch, against one surface of which said pin moves for the purpose of op erating said second-hand correcting device, and against the other side of which it moves when returned to its normal position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 22d day of August, A. D. 1885.

JAMES H. GERRY. Vitnesses:

DANL. XV. EDGECOMB, CHARLES A. TERRY. 

